The basil plant has been used by humans for a very long time and has accumulated a host of fascinating folklore stories. It is also deeply significant in the Hindu religion.

Basil is reputed to have been cultivated Iran and India and Asian countries  for more than 5000 years.  It is one of the most commonly used herbs worldwide and over the centuries more than 60 different basils have evolved.

Legend has it that Alexander the Great brought it to Greece in the third century BCE (BC)

It is mentioned in a very famous book  by Dioscorides called De Materia Medica (Latin for Regarding Medical Matters). Written in the first century BCE, this is the earliest modern pharmacopeia and one of the most influential books about herbs that has ever been written.

Religious significance
Holy Basil, is used to prepare holy water in the  Greek Orthodox Church.    The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church and Romanian Orthodox Church use basil to prepare holy water and pots of basil are often placed below church altars.

It was used an  an embalming and preserving herb, proof of which is that it has been  found in mummies of ancient Egypt.

Basil was also a symbol of mourning in Greece

The basil plant is  known as tulsi in India and has been  deeply connected to the  Hindu  religion  for  centuries.  The name tulsi originates from a story about the goddess Tulasi and is said to have grown from her ashes.   Another version says that the girl was called  Vrinda. she   threw herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre and was burned to death.  The Hindu gods rewarded her act of devoted love by creating from her burnt hair  a sweet smelling plant called tulsi or basil.
A widely accepted version of the story relates how Tulasi was tricked into betraying her husband when she was seduced by the god Vishnu who pretended to be her husband. Devastated, the tormented woman killed herself.  The god  Vishnu was  impressed and declared that Tulasi  would be “worshiped by women for her faithfulness” and would prevent women from becoming widows.

Tulsi means “incomparable one” and is important in maintaining the health of the household.   For at least 3000 years, Hindu homes have been considered incomplete without tulsi plants.  In fact in many homes a shrine is built and here the tulsi plants are kept. The shrine is decorated with images of the gods .   Some families may group many plants which is called called a “tulsi-van” or “tulsivrindavan”.  For millions of Hindus this is the place for daily prayers.  Then at night a lamp is left burning beside it. The tulsi plant represents the  Hindu symbol for love, protection, purification and eternal life.   Tulsi is the way to get into heaven and thus Hindus are buried with a tulsi leaf placed on the chest.

There could be a practical aspect to having basil in the house.  Tulsi was used as a remedy for  malarial fever. It has qualities as a disinfectant, and also has properties  as a repellent for mosquitoes, flies and other  insects.    Allied to that belief, is the story about the Mumbai Victoria Gardens.  When they were being established the gardeners were plagued with mosquitoes and became sick.   The Hindu  managers, recommended planting  tulsi plants all around the property.   This seems to have removed the mosquitoes and the gardeners  recovered.

The basil plant is also associated with stories about Lord Krishna.  Tulsi was a princess who fell in love with Lord Krishna, much to the chagrin of his consort.  However It appears that Tulsi’s love for Lord Krishna was returned.   Every year, on a certain date in the month of Karttika on the lunar calendar, the ritual of Tulsi Vivaha takes plance.   Tulsi is ceremonially married to Lord Vishnu.  Celebrations of this marriage go on for  five days timed to end on the day of the full moon in October which is  the beginning of  the annual marriage season in India.
Yet another story says that Vishnu’s wife, Tulasi, took the form of basil when she came to earth and so believers are very careful not to damage tulsi plants and even ask for  forgiveness if they touch the plant unnecessarily.

Tulsi, being  sacred to the Gods Krishna and Vishnu is still found  growing around temples.
It is thought that areas where many tulsi plants grow, are ideal places in which to concentrate and worship.  Other writers have noted the basil plants mood changing effect.  It was also thought to be a soother of tempers.  In modern aromatherapy, basil is used to cheer the heart and mind. The  aroma is said to relieve sadness and depression.
Tulsi is an important herb used in Ayurveda medicine.  Medical records show that it has been used for thousands of years.

Facts and legends
As with other herbs basil is associated with a couple of pretty gruesome legends.

In Sicilian folklore, basil is associated with both love and death. There was a lady called Lisbetta who had a lover.   Her brothers slay the lover.   He then appears to Lisbetta in a dream to show her where he is buried.   Lisbetta (and this is X rated!) digs up the body and cuts off the head which she then puts in a pot and grows the basil plant on top.   She waters the pot every day with her tears.  When the brothers discover the pot they remove it and the poor damsel dies shortly thereafter from grief.  And would you know that a basil plant sprouted from her hair!

In ancient Rome, it is thought that the Greek name basilicum was confused with another word basilisk (or basilicus).   This was a mythical serpent or scorpion whose one glance would kill.
A couple of really practical basil old wives’ tales follow. Carry it in your pocket and it brings money to your business.. Basil planted on your property will keep goats away and also prevent you from becoming inebriated…

In the language of flowers, popular in Victorian days, Basil means both hatred common basil) and best wishes (sweet basil)

The Greek word for basil means royal or kingly. It was believed that only the king himself should harvest this herb, and only with the use of a golden sickle.

In Italy, basil is associated with sympathy and compassion which is supposed to arise between those who wear sprigs of it.

In Tudor times, small pots of this were given by farmers’ wives to visitors as parting gifts.

Jewish folklore believes that basil is a source of strength when fasting.

Greeks  believed that basil would open the gates of heaven to someone dying. However at one time in ancient Greece basil represented hatred

In Romania, an engagement is signified when a boy accepts a sprig of basil from a girl. In Moldavian  it is slightly different.   If a man accepts a sprig of basil from a woman, he will fall in love with her.

In Greece today, basil represents a symbol of fertility in certain religious rituals.

In Haiti, basil is thought to belong to the goddess Erzulie the voodoo goddess of love and is used in love spells . .

An old European legend  claimed  that basil was a symbol of Satan.

Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that in order to have a good crop of basil, it was important for the gardener to plant the seed while  ranting and swearing especially cursing  the ground in which you are  sowing the basil.   There is a French idiom semer le baslic (sowing basil)  which means to rant. Another version of this need to rant and rave explains that  basil could cause insanity.  On the other hand, ranting also provided protection from the mythical “scorpion”  which killed with a glance.

In African folklore basil is a protection against scorpions. But the connection with scorpions was a belief held in many countries.  A French physician, Hilarius,  wrote that scorpions would breed inside the brain if someone smelled basil too much.

In medieval times, it was believed that scorpions were created from  basil. If you wanted your very own scorpion, then you needed to place a few basil leaves under a flowerpot and wait.
When the pot was lifted some time later a scorpion would be found underneath.

Another story involves a guy called Mizaldus, who said that if you threw basil into a pile of horse manure, the pile would then breed “venomous beasts” such as snakes. However, yet another writer, Culpepper said that if you applied basil to the area bitten by said venomous beasts  “it speedily draws the poison to it”

An English botanist, Parkinson tells us that ‘being gently handled it gave a pleasant smell but being hardly wrung and bruised would breed scorpions’.

To the ancient Romans, it was a symbol of hatred, yet basil eventually became a token of love in Italy. In some regions of Italy, sweet basil is known as “kiss-me-Nicholas or bacia-nicola.” It is thought to attract husbands to wives, and a pot of basil on a windowsill is meant to signal to a lover. Young maidens would wear a sprig of basil in their hair to profess their availability.
Pliny thought it was an aphrodisiac; his contemporaries fed it to horses during the breeding season.

Pots of the basil herb are often seen in sidewalk restaurants in France – there  to act as an insect repellent and deter flies and mosquitoes.

Today, as well as being used as a culinary herb, basil is also used  in perfumery, incense, and herbal holistic remedies.

These are only some of the many tales about basil. Which is not really surprising when you remember that it has been part of various human cultures for thousands and thousands of years.

Forget the scorpions. Today the basil plant  is used largely for culinary purposes and also as a medicinal herb. It is an important herb for many dishes and therefore deserves a place in   your home herb garden.

Good herbs gardening!